


New York

by moon_hotel



Category: He Done Her Wrong (Milt Gross)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-31
Updated: 2011-05-31
Packaged: 2017-10-19 23:24:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/206348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moon_hotel/pseuds/moon_hotel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, when things weren't going that well, he would ask him about New York.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New York

So they went into business, the cosmopolitan trader and the rough, tough frontiersman, shacked up tight in a cabin in the frozen North. During the day, the frontiersman went out and hunted for pelts while the trader took care of the finances. During the night, they ate, drank and slept; though neither of them were very good cooks, they managed between them, and the trader kept a more than adequate supply of liquor. That was really the most important thing.

They talked a lot, too, although the trader was one of those really moody types, his companion noted. If he were in a good mood (or had a little whiskey in him), he chattered nonstop, and if one little thing was out of place, it was enough to turn him sour for a whole evening. The frontiersman very much preferred it when he talked. He always preferred it when people were in a good mood, especially because he wasn't that wordy himself, and there was nothing he disliked more than that terrible emptiness between them. In the Yukon, you needed any friend you could get.

So sometimes, when things weren't going that well, he would ask him about New York.

That was the one subject that would make the little man's eyes light up and his grin come back, and even his thin mustache perked up a little. He'd whirl around on his stool and gesticulate wildly as he talked about how amazing the city was, how he had a great penthouse apartment with an amazing view of downtown Manhattan. That stuff wasn't quite as interesting--the lumberjack didn't really know much about penthouses, apartments, or what a Manhattan was. What he preferred was when the little man leaned over and his voice got quiet, and he began to describe what the city was actually like.

It was full of life, for one thing. You wanted company? You'd have more company than you'd know what to do with. Everyone hustled and bustled back and forth, and you could walk up and down the streets and look into the shops and see what everyone was doing--cutting hair, getting dressed in the latest fashions, buying toys, buying paintings, buying buying buying. If you had money, and you made it work for you (he sighed), New York would spoil you for any place else in the world.

It was mesmerizing. The frontiersman would sit there on the floor, looking up at him, feeling like a child, and only a little awkward. He'd like to go there one day. See it for himself.

I bet you would, chuckled the trader, crossing one leg over the other.


End file.
